Covid vaccine effectiveness falls to 0% a year after first series

People who have only received the first and second vaccine shots against Covid-19 are barely protected against a coronavirus infection one year after the injections. By that time, vaccine effectiveness falls to 0 percent, according to the RIVM, the Dutch public health institute.

Those who received a booster shot in the interim still receive protection against serious symptoms of the coronavirus disease. The vaccines then prevent 63 percent of hospitalizations, and 74 percent of intensive care admissions. People may still develop symptoms of Covid-19, but those are likely to be more mild.

An additional booster shot produced a higher rate of effectiveness. Residents of the Netherlands who are aged 60 and over, and others in vulnerable positions, have access to the additional shot.

Every resident is eligible to be vaccinated against Covid-19 from the age of five. Of those aged 12 and up, 82.7 percent have received at least one shot. Roughly six out of ten people have also received a booster shot, meaning that the vaccine's protection has steeply fallen in just under a quarter of people.